These Employers Are Taking Millennials' Mental Health Seriously

Tuesday, October 10th marks World Mental Health Day. In recognition of the day, I spoke with employers who are not only recognizing the challenge millennial employees with mental illness face, but are actively working to help them thrive in the workplace and beyond.

Let that sink in for a second. One in five. Look around the conference room during a meeting or down your millennial-inspired open concept floor plan. There are plenty of employees around you that are silently facing the private and public struggle that comes with mental illness.

Picjumbo.com.

One in five millennials struggle with mental health.

Taking A Mental Health Sick Day

Recently a tweet by Madalyn Rose Parker, an employee at Olark, a live chat software company, went viral. Parker’s tweet shows an email she sent at work that says, “I’m taking today and tomorrow to focus on my mental health. Hopefully I’ll be back next week refreshed and back to 100%.”

“I just wanted to personally thank you for sending emails like this. Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health – I can’t believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work.”

While Congleton’s response is epic and impressive, it does bring to light the stark reality that most millennials are not supported by their employers, bosses, and colleagues when it comes to taking care of their mental health.

Getting Serious About Mental Health Employee Benefits

CHG Healthcare is one company that has recently made strides in taking mental health of their employees seriously. Their employee base is comprised of about half millennials.

“We started offering services approximately one year ago via our partnership with Marathon Health in our Salt Lake City office,” said Nicole Thurman, Senior Director of Talent Management at CHG Healthcare, a healthcare staffing company. “This is our corporate office and there are approximately 1400 employees here.”

Thurman found that mental health services are of top concern to employees. With the help of Marathon Health, they now staff a full time male and female counselor and have served 75 patients in six months.

Having mental health care on campus allows for the ability to quickly refer employees for care as needed, as well as provide immediate assistance for mental health crisis events. While it’s commendable that some employers are now offering specialized mental health care, it’s also to their benefit to do so in some cases.

“Our Marathon Health staffed onsite clinic saves us a lot of money because we are deferring healthcare visits with far greater costs into our onsite clinic,” said Thurman. “We are able to prevent or catch issues earlier, including mental health issues.”

While putting mental health staff onsite can be beneficial from a cost and convenience perspective, some employees could be too embarrassed, shamed, or stigmatized to use onsite services. They may fear that their coworkers would see them going to the counselor. For those individuals, some companies offer an online option via AbleTo.

“AbleTo’s ability to deliver proven, high-quality treatment via phone or secure video allows for patients in need of customized, evidence-based mental healthcare to access it in the privacy of their own home, on their own schedule,” said Rob Rebak, President and CEO of AbleTo Inc., a tech-enabled provider of behavioral healthcare. “Geography is also not a barrier. Health plans and large employers see us as a solution to this problem for both members/employees as well as the bottom line. It’s a true win-win.”